Thanks to multiple delays, Toronto's slowly getting the fleet of 204 new streetcars it ordered from Bombardier. However, as the Toronto Star reports today, in its contract, the city has the option to order an extra 60 streetcars from the Quebec-based company for $361 million.

This would help bolster our streetcar fleet, but the paper has learned that the city is considering ditching this option because of the ongoing problems with the existing order with Bombardier. And, thanks to federal funding, the TTC could more quickly buy busses from another company.

That said, there are questions as to the merits of running buses on streetcar routes. Busses, for instance, hold fewer passengers than streetcars and the city would likely have to build another garage to hold the new busses.

The city has until Bombardier delivers its 60th streetcar to decide what to do. According to the Star, that should happen next fall.

And if you need a refresher about the ongoing new streetcar drama, remember, we were supposed to have 73 new streetcars by the end of 2015. So far, we've received only 23. Bombardier, however, says it'll deliver the rest of them by the end of 2019.

Photo by dtstuff9 in the blogTO Flickr pool.